Legal Services

A solicitor who used £500,000 of money in his firm’s client account to feed his gambling addiction – although he paid most of it back in winnings – has been struck off.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/solicitor-used-500000-from-client-account-to-fund-gambling-addiction

A solicitor who lied in her application for a training contract at Weightmans and then for a new job at DLA Piper after qualifying has been struck off. 

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/solicitor-lied-on-cvs-for-training-contract-and-associate-job-struck-off

The Legal Services Board (LSB) finally has a permanent chair after Dr Helen Phillips was given an unprecedented five-year term.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/new-chair-of-legal-services-board-named-14-months-after-last-one-left

Law firm managers and in-house counsel will increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) for decisions on the best strategic course to take in the future, according to a Law Society study.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/ai-will-help-law-firms-make-business-decisions-says-law-society-report

The Law Society has launched a fierce attack on the second attempt by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to reduce the indemnity insurance and compensation fund requirements for solicitors.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/law-society-condemns-sras-indemnity-and-compensation-fund-reforms

Insolvencies in the legal sector are set to double this year if trends seen in the first quarter of 2018 continue, indicating a possible downturn in the fortunes of law firms

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/law-firm-insolvencies-rising-sharply-research-finds

Law firms will have to publish their prices for a range of consumer and business services, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has decided, but they will not have to put their complaints records in the public domain.

http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/law-firms-will-have-to-publish-certain-prices-but-not-complaints-data-sra-decides

The chairman of the Bar Council said he would support the £15m deal being offered by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to end the action over criminal legal aid fees, as barristers began voting on whether to accept it.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/bar-council-chair-says-he-would-vote-for-governments-criminal-legal-aid-deal

Solicitor jailed for seven years and six months at Bolton Crown Court having pleaded guilty to more than 40 charges including fraud, forgery and money laundering at an earlier hearing.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/solicitor-who-forged-documents-and-stole-mortgage-payments-jailed

The Legal Services Board has handed out a public censure for the first time, after finding that the Law Society had governance arrangements in place that could have interfered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/legal-services-board-slaps-law-society-with-first-ever-public-censure